Understanding Poetry
by doctoring
Summary: Hermione agrees to help create a challenge for a competition at Hogwarts. She is almost done creating an elaborate enchanted poem, when Draco, once again, shows up to bother her at work. As Draco struggles to find meaning in the poem, details of their peculiar relationship are revealed. / A fic written for Writer's Month. Word Prompt: poetry


It was exactly five years since Hermione completed her education at Hogwarts, when she walked into her office at the Ministry to find Headmaster McGonagall waiting for her.

After brief pleasantries and a few moments catching up, McGonagall admitted that she needed Hermione's help with something. Hogwarts would hold a new tournament next year, similar to the Tri-Wizard, but it will be held between the four houses. She explained the overall concept and how it would aid the students, especially the ones selected, as well as their precautions to prevent another Tri-Wizard-like disaster.

"That sounds marvelous! If there's anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask!"

"Well, I certainly hope that was not a shallow offer, Ms. Granger, because I ultimately came here seeking your aid in one of the challenges."

This is how Hermione had spent the next month constructing an elaborate series of puzzles that will stimulate the mind for obscure facts, while stumping and tripping up those who have not learned the material for life, but only crammed for exams.

McGonagall needed the students selected to participate to go on a sort of scavenger hunt, but with tasks instead of items, to set them up for her own challenge right after. There was the typical method of a riddle to decipher for each task, one at a time, but Headmaster McGonagall wanted something more, something a bit more challenging.

Hermione, wheels already spinning, said she already has a few ideas, and will work on it straight away.

She decides to go beyond a simple set of unrelated riddles, like the many she saw during her time at Hogwarts. Instead, she crafted an entire poem for the contenders, which will help to reveal that all the components of the puzzle are related somehow, a major clue for the next major challenge the students will face.

_That way, students who only lucked out with each component will not have the same advantage as those students who could apply the material and see the bigger picture, the overall theme of the poem._

Hermione felt quite proud of her idea.

However, it was imperative that the students complete her challenge in the proper order, so Hermione also had the additional task of taking her poem and enchanting it to ensured that that would happen.

Each stanza could only be revealed when the previous one was solved.

No one else besides the contender could see the stanza. Otherwise, the parchment would look blank.

And finally, no one should be able to undo these enchantments.

With plenty of consulting and trial-and-error, she finally figures out how to properly enchant the poem.

Now all that is left is to copy out the poem as neatly as possible, four times, and place the proper enchantments on each.

She managed to get the poems copied out, and brings them to work one day, in order to start the enchantment process, which would involve a coworker skilled in delayed charms. With such sensitive materials in her possession, it would make sense that this would be the day that Draco stops by her office unannounced.

Before she could deal with him, she receives several notices from higher up that had to be addressed immediately.

Hermione rushes through the correspondences, keeping an eye on Draco who is slowly leaning over in the chair across from her, trying to get a better look at the items on her desk.

_This isn't sensitive information, and there's no way anyone besides McGonagall knows about the poem, so there's really isn't a reason to worry… but still… It is odd that he hasn't stopped by in a few weeks, and all of a sudden, he chooses today to-_

Finally, without warning, he lunges forward and snatches up the stack of folders on the other side of her desk. He quickly tosses aside the bottom few, until he had the folder he wanted, shouting, "Ah ha!"

Hermione tensed a little but tried to convince herself that _statistically speaking, there were about 50 brown envelopes in that stack, it's not like he'll stumble on the poems, or even know what they were for._

He pulls out a piece of parchment, one that she recognized immediately at the final draft of the poem. He then frowns. "Oh hell, I thought I had it."

"Had what?" She tried to say as calmly as possible.

"I was trying to guess where you hid the riddles for that challenge McGonagall needed help with."

Hermione felt a sinking feeling when she realized he knew about it, knew her well enough to know she'd hide it in plain sight, and had a copy of it in his hand. Only, he didn't realize that last part.

"Whatever are you talking about? What riddle?"

"You know…" Draco waves the parchment around, causing it to crinkle a bit. Hermione felt anger start to well up. _The paper can't be blemished in any way prior to enchantment. Great. Now I need to redo one of them._

"McGonagall is doing that house challenge thing… I forget what it's called. She needed help with some carefully crafted riddles, so I told her to contact you." He gives her a knowing grin as he haphazardly tosses the paper back into the folder.

"Well, she never contacted me about anything, and since when did you talk to her?"

He shrugs. "I swung by Hogwarts a month or so ago to see a few old teachers. Struck up a convo with her. Which is what I did today. She told me you were nearly done with the challenge, so here I am."

_Well, that explains a lot…_

"Where's the riddles, Granger? I just want to see what you managed to construct for that asinine challenge."

"There are no riddles, Malfoy." Granger looks him dead in the eye and smirks. Nothing he can do will prove she's lying, since she's not.

"Whatever, I'll just sit here and bother you until you cave."

Before she could protest, he pulls out the parchment again and begins reading, very slowly and very loudly. Hermione can't stand working around people who do that, especially after her first year at the ministry where she shared an office with someone like that. And Draco knew it.

He makes it to the fourth line when he trails off.

"Wait a bloody minute… Granger… if I didn't know any better… you've been writing poetry… Why?"

She shrugs, playing it off. "I've always written poetry. I just don't show anyone."

He glares at her, then goes back to the poem.

Hermione goes back to work, but only manages to respond to one notice before Draco interrupts her again. He slaps the parchment down on the paper and shouts, "You filthy liar!"

"I beg pardon!?"

"This," he points angrily down at the poem, "This is it! These are the riddles for that dumb competition!"

Hermione stands up suddenly, wand in hand.

Draco raises his hands in defense, taking a step back. "Down, Granger! How about you wait to obliviate me until after I try to figure out the riddles."

"You want to figure them out?"

Draco nods then hesitantly reaches out for the poem. "Provided you don't curse me into next year."

"Why?"

"Why I don't want to be cursed or why-"

"Why do you want to figure out the riddles!?" She made no attempt to hide her annoyance.

"I just wanted to see if I could do it. No harm in that, right?"

She lowers her wand but maintains her stare on Draco. She nods at the parchment. "You are to remain here, and you are not permitted to touch your wand."

"Is that all?" Draco replied snarkily, but still cautiously takes his seat again, grabbing the poem.

Hermione fills out a few forms when it finally hit her.

"McGonagall made some comment about you not being able to figure out the riddles, didn't she?"

"Shut it."

Hermione laughed to herself and went back to work.

Over the next hour, Hermione managed to get all her work done.

She would have been done sooner, but it seems as though Draco wasn't able to sit still in the chair while deciphering the meaning behind her poem. She found herself distracted when he started pacing around her office, especially when he started doing laps around her desk, causing her to slowly spin in her chair as he did his rounds, as to not have her back towards him.

At one point, she looked up and realized he was nowhere in sight. She tried to rush out to find where he gone with the poem, just to trip over his feet. She looks back and finds that he was laying on the floor, in line with the front of her desk.

"Watch it. I'm working here," He mutters softly, eyes still scanning the lines.

"And I'm trying to work too, but…" She gives up in a huff, realizing it was no use arguing with him.

Finally, when she was caught up on her work, she would be able to go get the poems enchanted. But first, she needed the copy back from Draco, and she needed to rewrite it.

"Times up."

"Wait, wait, wait, I think I almost have it."

"It's been over an hour and you haven't even solved the first one!"

He gives her a dirty look. "I mean… true… but I did figure out other lines, and realized something about the poem as a whole…"

Hermione leans back in her chair, giving him an impressed look. "Really? Well, let's hear it."

"So first off, each stanza is connected. Let's face it, as poems go, this is a bit abstract, it's not very straight forward. Yet, each stanza does go together. They're all connected to one momentous occasion."

_Well color me impressed! He managed to figure out the journey of trials the contenders must face next! But I'm not going to let him know he's right._

"Well, that's a good theory, but it's entirely wrong. Why would you even-"

"Oh, don't even bother putting up that front! You know I'm right! Look here." Draco leans over her desk and begins pointing out words and phrases of interest, reading them aloud. He points out descriptions of colors, smells, sights, feelings, emotions. Finally, he stands upright, giving her a satisfied smile and saying, "There you have it. That's it!"

"What's it? It just pointed out random parts. It doesn't explain _anything_."

Draco scoffs. "This is _obviously_ a poem about you realizing your great love for me, and all your years of trying to get my attention."

As he goes on pointing out those same words, trying to connect it to himself, to her, to anything between them, she shouts "OH!? Really now?! IS IT!?"

"It is!"

"Well, that's news to me!"

"C'mon off it, Granger, you know you're obsessed with me." He gives her what would have been a charismatic look, if anyone else had done it besides Draco.

"Really, and you got all that from a poem about… about lake creatures, spiders, paintings, and other common yet unnoticed parts of Hogwarts?"

"Yes, exactly!"

Granger gave him a hard stare and Draco tossed the parchment onto the desk with a huff.

"I was hoping it was," he grumbles.

"What's that?"

"Nothing!"

She smirks at him. "All that time and you couldn't even figure out one line, one hidden meaning, one-"

"Cut me some slack! I'm not like you, always buried in books and trying to stay in academia forever! School was a long time ago for me, okay? I wasn't mentally _there_ anymore… starting my fifth year…"

She gives him a pitying look, one that made him look away immediately. She watches as the nape of his neck begins to turn pink. She hadn't mean to tease him like that, especially when it caused him to bring up a sensitive topic. She knew how much thinking about his education cut short the way it did hurt him. He had confessed it many times during all their heart-to-hearts over the years.

She considers her options for a moment, piecing together everything that's happened so far, before finally saying, "So why did you _really_ come here, besides the obvious front to comprehend the challenge poem?"

Draco looks distracted for a moment, almost as if he was attempting to pretend that he didn't hear her. He only maintains it for a few seconds before saying, "Oh, I wanted to see if you were free sometime this weekend."

"Why? What's going on?" Hermione examines the calendar by her desk, wondering what it was that she had missed.

Draco starts idly picking up items off her desk and examining them. "Just wanted to see if you wanted to do something…"

He picks up an object, not even looking at it, and places it on the filing cabinet, just to misplace it intentionally. A terrible of habit of his that he developed just to provoke her.

"Maybe get a drink or two, or maybe a meal… Or something more date-like, if that's how you feel."

"Look at you, waxing poetry," Hermione says flatly.

Draco would appear indifferent to anyone else, anyone else but Hermione. After being harassed like this for three years, she can tell the twitch in his lips meant he felt smug.

"So, this weekend?" Draco pressed, as he purposely misplaces another item.

She thinks about it for a moment.

She won't admit it, but she rather likes their peculiar relationship right where it is, at least for now. Draco can be annoying at times, disrupting her work and everything, but she likes the way he perceives her.

As beautiful as a poem but as difficult to decipher as a riddle.

She finally realizes the response she wants to give him, along with a brilliant but wicked idea of how to deliver it to him.

She can feel him watching her as she scribbles out few more lines on a scrap piece of parchment, pausing at times to make sure she has the wording exactly right. When she hands it to him, he skims it quickly and groans loudly.

"Really, Granger? _Another_ poem?"

"When you figure out what this poem means, you'll get your answer," she says, shoving him out her office door. She was surprised to see that he didn't put up much resistance, not like all those other times he bothered her at work.

Just before closing the door to her office, she looks back at him.

Draco had stopped walking away, standing in the middle of the hall, clearly not bothered by all the other wizards rushing by, giving him odd stares. He was slowly mouthing the words to the new poem in his hands.

She figured it would be about 24 hours until he's back in her office, demanding to know the meaning behind the second poem in hopes of a straight-forward answer.

But she won't tell him.

She could never tell him that she left it ambiguous on purpose, up to the reader to decide his own meaning.

Up to Draco to decide the answer himself.

-the end-


End file.
